Thursday, 30 January 2014

On Friday
January 31st the J. League’s J1 fixtures for the 2014 will be
revealed to a waiting public. Or rather, fans will discover their team's remaining
32 fixtures. The opening two weeks were made public some time ago. But come
Friday evening at 5pm, or perhaps nearer 6pm?, fans can view the full footballing
year ahead. Planning
the coming months of away days and big home games is one of the joys of the
closed season. Why then do I feel the J. League misses out on an opportunity,
albeit relatively minor, of whipping up a little valuable publicity?

The opening two
weeks fixtures released separately, without warning, and often leaked
online early, is the beginning of the problem. Why the staggered announcement?
By the time the full remaining fixtures are made public, again without
warning or fanfare, again often leaked online in unconfirmable dribs and drabs, season
ticket deadlines have passed. The impact on sales may be negligible, but some might be reluctant to shell out for a year’s commitment without a guarantee they
can make their must-see games. Why even create that risk?

Ensuring there's a little drama and excitement around the release of the fixtures would only serve to benefit all concerned. At the time of writing, the J. League
homepage makes no mention of the date, let alone time, of this year's release. Via information gleaned
across the web I’m aware of the date, and from experience, I know it won't be in the morning, but early evening. Vague? Just a bit. The steady
trickle of leaked fixtures on Twitter are welcome, but does little to court the
anticipation of supporters.

Why don’t
we set time and date well in advance, to fall before season ticket deadlines, and
accompany it with an online countdown? Let’s maintain ultimate secrecy around
the fixtures – all 34 weeks of them – to be revealed online, for example, on a
Monday morning at 9am. The excitement of discovering how the year shapes up
would be the talk of sports fans in offices up and down the country. Countless
emails would be fired off as fans made preliminary away trip arrangements. The
J. League would trend on Twitter as club hashtags went into overdrive.

It may not
be the most pressing issue in Japanese football, but for many during the closed
season, after new signings, the fixtures are the biggest thing to look forward
to. Leaked information and rumours do anything but build up enthusiasm. I hope
in future years the J. League will seize fixture release day as a chance to
swamp their website with traffic and make the league, for a day during the off season,
the talk of the sporting country.

League Game Crowd Watch

A Fanzine Four Years in the Making

That's four years of meaning to get round to it. Having followed the Mighty 'Pulse since 2004 and experienced enough highs, lows and last minute penalty misses to last a lifetime, it's high time we started documenting our adventures. Join us as we travel the length and breadth of Japan, seeing the sights, drinking the ales, befriending the locals, and occasionally even taking in 90 minutes here and there.

Originally consisting of one loan member sitting through a home defeat in a typhoon (without the luxury of a roof), the UK Ultras are now a fluid group of 20+ S-Pulse fans from around the world - including several Japanese! The only continent not yet represented is Africa.

Above and beyond acting as a scrapbook for our own varied misadventures, this fanzine's goal is to provide news and information to the English speaking world about a truly unique football club, and to help build and broaden S-Pulse's profile on the world stage. With thousands of visits here from all four corners of the planet, the world is clearly hungry to learn about S-Pulse, and we're happy to help spread the word.

Being a football fan has never just been about what happens on the pitch, and this fanzine is here to document all the fun and games that go along with following S-Pulse. We'll sometimes report on news other than S-Pulse which rattles our cage, but we're experts on nothing other than our own opinion, so don't take anything we say too seriously. Match reports being a good example. Wildly biased and put together on memory (it's not easy taking notes while dancing the samba), they may occasionally be lacking in analytical depth.

Other than that, just enjoy one of the wildest rides in the J. League - Shimizu S-Pulse!

Contributors

Having set up this fanzine back in April 2008 it's since taken on a life and a momentum of it's own. It's not easy to always find the time to keep the site updated, but seeing how many hits we get from around the world, the effort is worth it.

When not bouncing around behind the goal at Nihondaira, he expends his remaining football energy on the glorious Brighton and Hove Albion.

Fuz: Lives in Osaka now but her heart is still in Shimizu. Mother to one cheeky wee girl she lives in hope of getting to more games these days.

When she's not rooting for the 'Pulse, Fuz spends her footie time following the mightyGlasgow Rangers.